Railway-crossing gate



Oct. 26 1926.

S. N. HANKS RAILWAY CROSSING GATE Filed June 20, 1925 Patented Get. 26,1926.

SILVIA:-

I[uQJ. l'KS, OF OKOLONA MISSISSIPPI.

RAILwAY-onossIitG GATE.

Application filed June 20, 1925. Serial in. 38,457.

The present invention relates to railway gate crossing structure, andmore particularly to the operating" mechanisms therefor.

The principal object of the inve'iitio'n 1s to generally improve uponthe structure shown iii-Letters Patent #1503344, issuer to me on July29th, 1924. v

Another important objectof the invention is to provide'an improvedmechanism for swinging a gate downwardly or to a closed position, inrelation tothe' crossing the approach of a train in; either direction,said-means bein'g epeieble only as the train approaches" the crossing;

Another import-ant object of the invention to provid'e means for'holdinthe gatem a closed position, and a mechanism for releasing said means;

A still furthervry important object or e invention is to generallyimprove upon structures of this nature by the provision or anexceedingly simple mechanism, which is thoroughly reliable and efficientin operati'o'n, strong, durable, not likely to easily become out: oforder, and otherwise Well adapted to the purpose for which it is designed;

With the above and numerous other 0bj'ects in View, as will appear asthe description-proceeds, the invent-ion resides in certainnovelfeatures of construction, and in the combination and arrangement ofparts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an elevation of my improved structure looking down theroadway across the tracks.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan View of the gate operating structure.I

Figure 3 is a detail vertical section, taken substantially on the line 35 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is another detail vertical section, taken substantially on theline 4 4: of F igure 2, looking in the direction of the arrow.

Figure 5 is a similar section, showing the parts in afdi'iierentposition, and

Figure 6 isa top plan view, showing one of. the reps.- A v w Referringto the drawing dfta'il, it -will be seen that lrle'Signatesa foadivhsse'd b3 theitra'clis'fzl A past 3 is metered In onecorner formed bvthe intersection of the faraway with the tfaclfs and has pivoted on itsupper end a gate bar 4. This gate bar 4:-

is pivoted intermediate its ends, one end being provided with a weightelement 5 and said gate being provided adjacent the other end with api'i ot'ed' prop 6. A rod 7 is slidable through the gate at a pointbetween its pivot and weight'e'dend 5. Springs 8 are disposed about therod 7 one'von each side of the gate bar 1-. It will thus be seen thatwhen the rod 7 is moved downwardly the upper spring will be compressedand the gate bar 4: Will be swung to an open position', and that whenthe rod 7 is moved upwardly, the lower spring 8 will be compressed andthe gate bar moved to' a horizontal or closed position, at which timethe prop 6 will rest on the roadway 1. These struct-uresallow sufficientlatitude to the op e'rating' mechanism aswill appear later in thedescription, so as to eliminate any sudden strains which might otherwisebe placed thereon; such as would be occasioned by the limited movementof the gate bar t or by an obstacle being situated thereunder. Thesesprings also prevent the gate bar from doing injury to vehicles andperson should they be caught under the same when it is being moved to' aclosed position.

A fran'i'e 9 is located alongside of one rail or the track 2' betweensaid track and the post 3, and includes a pair of parallel members 10and 11 extending longitudinally with the track 2 and a pair oftransverse members 12 and 13 which extend from the ends of the member11, so as to converge towardeach other and merge into the ends of themember 10.

The frame 9. is located in a horizontal plane below the plane of theupper surfaces of the ties l4 and is attached to the ties as at 15,intermediate portions of the member 11 being bent upwardly for thispurpose. A. shaft 16 is journaled as at 17 on the middle of the member11 and through a plate 18 rising from the member 10. This shaftextendstransversely of the track way and has a 19 on its end pivotally engagedwith th'e'b'o'ttom end of the rod 7. If two gates rare used, one on eachside of the track way, of iorirse, the other end or the Shaft- 16 wouldbe provided with asiniilar crank 19, a duplication which it'isunnecessary to illustrate in the drawings. 'A era-nit 20' is flied in't'efined-ia te its ends to the shaft- 16, bettifeenth ember-s 10 and-11adjacent the tti an asflpiilleys l -jou-ri1a1ed-irr its ends. Cables 22are trained over the pulleys 21 and then extended back over themselvesand fixed to the members 12 and 13, as is indicated at 23. It will thusbe seen that by pulling either of the cables 22, the crank 20 will berocked in the same direc-' tion, and the other cable will be slackened.This rocking of the crank 20 will cause the rocking of the shaft 16 andthe crank 19. thereby actuating the gate to a closed position. A bar 25is fixed intermediate its ends to the shaft- 16 immediately above alongitudinally extending cross member 26, fixed to the intermediateportions of the members 12 and 13. A spring 27 is fixed to the upper endof the bar 25 and to the member 26, and normally holds the bar 25 sothat the shaft holds the crank 19 in such a position as to hold the gatenormally raised with the assistance of its weighted end 5. A springcatch 28 is fixed at one end as at 29, to the member 26, and has itsfree end engageable with a seat 30 formed on the lower end of the bar 25so that when the gate is closed and the bar is swung to tension thespring 27, the end of the catch 28 will engage inthe seat 30, as isillustrated in Figure 4, for retaining the gate in its closed position.Ad-

jacent the end of the spring catch 28 there is formed a pump 32. A shaft33 is journaled across the frame in plate 18 and in a plate 34 andterminates in a crank end 35, adjacent one track rail 2. A bowed spring36 has one end fixed to one tie as at 37 and a. pin and slot connection38 with another tie so that the flange of the wheel of a train willpress downwardly on the spring 36 and tend to straighten the same out,in order that it will engage the crank end and rock the shaft 33. Across member 39 is mounted on the shaft 33, adjacent the hump 32 andwhen the shaft is rocked as described, this cross member will depressthe spring catch 28, releasing its ends from the seat 30, so that thespring 27 will be free to rock the bar 25 and the shaft 16 and allow thegate to open.

To both sides of the roadway 1, along the trackway 2, there is located atrip mechanism. These trip mechanisms are identical in construction, andoperate to pull the cables 22 and a description in detail of one willsufiice for both and for simplicity only one will be described indetail. The train engaging member 40 is disposed alongslde of one rail2, and at one end is provided with an elongated slot 41, which receivesa a tie 14. A link 43 is pivoted to the other end of the other member 40and depends downwardly therefrom. The member 40 is constructed of springmetal or the like, so that when a train approaches,

pin 42, rising from be bent so as to move as is indicated in dottedlines to the left of Figure 1, said member 40 will. the link 43 down-.wardly. This link 43 is pivotally engagedwith a bell crank lever 44. Thelink 45 is pivoted to the bell crank lever 44 and also to a bell cranklever 46 pivoted on the rail 2, as at 47, and attached to the adjacentcable 22, so that when the member 40 is bent downwardly, as previouslyindicated, the bell crank levers 44 and 47 are rocked to pull the cable22 thereby rocking the crank 20, as previously indicated. When the trainprogresses past the cross road and comes into engagement with the othermember 40, the

wheel will engage the link end thereof, so that the member 40 will heslid in the direction of the travel of the train, the link 43 swingingtherewith and since the slotted end is free to move, the member 40 willmove in the direction of the travel of the train causing the swinging oflink 43 on its pivotal connection with bell crank 44 until said member40- is depressed sufficiently to disengage with the train. The bellcrank lever 40 will not be rocked sufficiently to cause any percep tiblemovement in the gate bar 4. After provided, and engages an extension 50at the slotted end of the member 40 to return it to its normalposition'slowly. I

It is thought that the construction, operation, and advantages of theinvention will now be clearly understood without a more detaileddescriptionthereof. It is apparent that changes in the details ofconstruction, and in the combination and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventionas hereinafter claimed, or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is A crossinggate structure comprising a gate, a shaft, means operatively connectingthe gate and the shaft so that the former may be operated by the latter,means for rocking the shaft, a bar fixed intermediate its ends to theshaft, a spring engaged with one end of the bar and pendent to normallyhold the shaft in such position as to dispose the gate open, a springlatch engageable with the other end of the bar for holding the shaftagainst rotation when the gate is closed, a second shaft having a camengageable with the spring latch for releasing the same, a crank on theshaft last-mentioned, a bowed spring having one end fixed and the otherend movably mounted, the intermediate portion of said bowed spring beingdisposed for engaging the crank so that when said bowed spring isactuated by a car wheel the intermediate portion thereof engages thecrank for turning the second shaft to cause the cam to release thespring latch.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

